Driving a bus to the playa

[Bemerritt]

Looking for tips, suggestions and words of encouragement for a friend who is planning on driving his newly acquired bus to the playa.

The bus was still in service this last fall, was sold to someone at auction who drove it across the country and now it has been in his possession for the last several months. We have driven it to several events within california. The problem is, the elevation gain on the way to the playa.

Other than buying all of his water and beer after the climb, is there any other tips? I know there is a long way he can go, but we would rather not take the detour.

He will be coming from SF. I figure there are plenty of buses that make the trek every year, but we have a friend that has been joking that he is not going to make it up the hill. Would love some feed back, Thanks!

side note: I will be driving separately in a cargo van and might be able t otake some of his cargo weight if need be.

[Madgirl]

Paging Elliot...he'd be able to give you all sorts of advice, I think.

[Bemerritt]

Yeah, i contemplated PM'ing him, but figure a public discussion may help others.

[ygmir]

is the bus in good running order?
if so, it is rated to carry however many passengers, and being a bus, is usually built for heavy and safe service, hauling kids and all. the load limit (depending on the size of bus) is probably far above the weight of all the waters and beersez.
it may well be slow.
Is it diesel? Auto or manual trans?
tires and brakes good?

just take the hill (assuming you are going I80) in a lower gear, keeping rpm's moderate to high (depends on engine specs for what level that is) at a moderate throttle setting, not mashed to the floor, and accept whatever speed that allows. Watch the temps but otherwise all should be fine. Don't be afraid to pull over in a safe spot and check things, and if the temp it too hot, let it cool at about 1K rpm, while parked.

[Bemerritt]

It is a short bus, diesel, automatic. I agree it should be able to carry plenty of weight, but it wouldn't hurt to make it as light as possible.

[AntiM]

Be careful how much gets piled on the roof if there is a roof rack, top heavy buses tend to sway. A Utah burner got pulled over and ticketed because he was too heavy, NHP would not let him proceed until he off-loaded some of the stuff on the roof (others in RVs in the caravan took it, plus the carpets).

Can't hurt to find out how heavy the bus would be allowed to be, and it can be CAT scaled at almost any truckstop.

[pink]

Buy water, beer, sodas, etc. in Reno. If you have a tank, buy water in Gerlach. I made the mistake my first few burns of hauling all my stuff up the hill. Now I plan for a provisioning stop in Reno. EA makes buying water in Gerlach easy.

[trilobyte]

The biggest challenge will be getting up and over the Sierras, but I think the best bet is to stay on the interstate. Long way is not only longer, but one thing to know about interstates is that they tend to have easier grades (inclines) than other roads. In the case of I-80, it also has an additional lane in the spots that may be slower going for tractor trailers and other big/heavy vehicles that may need to take it easy in spots. IMO, if you can get from SF to Reno, the rest of the drive is pretty easy going.

So long as you're not going crazy with overloading things, it should be okay. Check in with other bus owners, you may also want to bring additional coolant and spare belts or other inexpensive maintenance/replacement things (I'm not a mechanic, I'll defer to those who know specifics). Stop at the rest stops and check the fluids, if something's leaking or running hot you want to catch it early and let it cool or replenish before it becomes a problem. If over-heating the engine or transmission is a concern, then plan on getting as far as Reno on day 1, then make the final leg on a second day (check the Barbie Death Village Reno hotel deal), and then the same thing on the way out.

The cargo van caravan is a great idea, a decent walkie talkie or MURS radio will let you stay in touch with each other on the road even when you're out of cell service range.

Good luck!

[Roundabout]

Do some research for yourself. Don't make us all guess about all the specifics of your own setup. There are lots of variables here that have already been covered in other posts. For example, read: viewtopic.php?p=425630#p425630

[Bemerritt]

The biggest challenge will be getting up and over the Sierras, but I think the best bet is to stay on the interstate. Long way is not only longer, but one thing to know about interstates is that they tend to have easier grades (inclines) than other roads. In the case of I-80, it also has an additional lane in the spots that may be slower going for tractor trailers and other big/heavy vehicles that may need to take it easy in spots. IMO, if you can get from SF to Reno, the rest of the drive is pretty easy going.

So long as you're not going crazy with overloading things, it should be okay. Check in with other bus owners, you may also want to bring additional coolant and spare belts or other inexpensive maintenance/replacement things (I'm not a mechanic, I'll defer to those who know specifics). Stop at the rest stops and check the fluids, if something's leaking or running hot you want to catch it early and let it cool or replenish before it becomes a problem. If over-heating the engine or transmission is a concern, then plan on getting as far as Reno on day 1, then make the final leg on a second day (check the Barbie Death Village Reno hotel deal), and then the same thing on the way out.

The cargo van caravan is a great idea, a decent walkie talkie or MURS radio will let you stay in touch with each other on the road even when you're out of cell service range.

Good luck!

Thanks for this insight. I'm sure all will be fine, just wanted to make sure we weren't setting ourselves up for failure. Good to know that there are plenty of turnouts. We'll be sure to take it slow and we'll be on the playa before we know it!